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Articles from santosh krinsky | Selfgrowth.com
- Purification of the Nature: Negative and Positive Approaches - by Submitted on Feb 04, 2023 from santosh krinskyOrdinarily, when we reflect on addressing impurities in the nature, whether in the mind, the emotions, the vital nature or the physical body, we tend to fixate upon the weakness or limitation we have identified and work to directly control, change or suppress it. This is what may be termed a ...
Views: 473 - Purity from the Moral Standpoint or the Spiritual Standpoint - by Submitted on Jan 22, 2023 from santosh krinskyIn the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna poses the question to Sri Krishna as to how to identify the realised soul, asking how does he act, how does he speak, etc. Sri Krishna responds that it is not through outer action that one can identify the liberated individual, as this is something that can only be ...
Views: 422 - Reading and the Concentration and Dispersion of Conscious Awareness - by Submitted on Mar 27, 2022 from santosh krinskyAs we become aware of the states of conscious awareness within our being, it becomes clear that there are times when the consciousness is highly concentrated, intensely focused, and other times when it is dispersed and wandering seemingly aimlessly. Our activities, including reading, are ...
Views: 557 - Reading As a Method of Entering into a Wider and Deeper Consciousness - by Submitted on Dec 05, 2024 from santosh krinskyA teenager was observed as she was deeply absorbed in reading the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo. This novel spans some 1000 pages and encompasses themes of deep and abiding interest, but does so in a captivating story line. It so happened that this teenager was ...
Views: 178 - Reading as a Spiritual Practice and Its Limitations - by Submitted on Mar 26, 2022 from santosh krinskyWhile Sri Aurobindo created an enormous body of written materials regarding the integral yoga, the development of the next phase of consciousness growth in the earth-evolution, he also clearly recognized that there are limits to how much reading can aid the spiritual seeker. He made a clear ...
Views: 575 - Reading, Mental Development and Spiritual Growth - by Submitted on Mar 24, 2022 from santosh krinskyThere is a general bias in our society that holds that someone who has a developed mentality, and who is ‘well-read’ is smarter or more intelligent than those who cannot read or who have limited reading capacity. Yet it must be recognised that intelligence cannot be measured, as is done in the ...
Views: 536 - Readings in Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol - by Submitted on Aug 27, 2023 from santosh krinskyIntroduction: Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol is an inner guidebook for the soul. These mantric verses imbue even the body with potent spiritual resonance. In this epic spiritual poem, Sri Aurobindo reveals his vision of mankind’s destiny within the universal evolution. He sets forth the ...
Views: 394 - Realisations in the Development of the Yogic Sadhana - by Submitted on May 08, 2021 from santosh krinskyMany who take up the practice of yogic sadhana find that they receive some signs of encouragement either prior to starting consciously down the path, through some kind of experience that opens other dimensions and opportunities for growth for them, or through some spiritual experiences in the ...
Views: 536 - Realization of the Divine Consciousness and Ananda Requires Control of Sexual Energies - by Submitted on Jan 06, 2026 from santosh krinskySuccess in attaining the objectives of any spiritual practice is based on achieving ‘one pointed concentration’. This means focusing the aspiration on the spiritual source and maintaining that focus without diverting energy and attention away to any other objective. The integral yoga, with its ...
Views: 23 - Rebirth and the Individual - by Submitted on Mar 06, 2022 from santosh krinskyHow do we imagine our past, or future, existences? What about past life regression therapy? Is there a reality to the experience and if so, what does it mean to us? Many who believe in a future reincarnation have no conception of any past lifetime at all. They accept the reality of their current ...
Views: 528 - Receiving and Utilizing the Universal Vital Forces - by Submitted on May 18, 2024 from santosh krinskyIn our fragmented process of understanding, we frequently create an artificial separation that does not exist in reality. Thus, seekers sometimes undertake to find ways to draw on the universal vital energy, when in fact, it is through the flow of that energy that they live, breathe, exist, grow ...
Views: 250 - Receiving Spiritual Shocks and Trials With Humility Through a Shift of Standpoint Away from the Ego-Consciousness - by Submitted on May 11, 2025 from santosh krinskyThe way we respond to setbacks or difficulties is conditioned by how deeply we are embedded in the ego-consciousness. The individual ego judges everything from its own very limited viewpoint. What it interprets as a negative result or as an obstacle may actually be part of the larger process of ...
Views: 117 - Receptivity and Awareness of Occult Powers and Forces Does Not Come Through the Mental Faculty of the Intellect - by Submitted on Feb 25, 2024 from santosh krinskyit can be especially difficult for those who are highly educated in the field of Western science, medicine, or other studies that focus on the logical intellect of the mind, to actually appreciate and be receptive to the play of forces that occurs outside the normal perceptive range of the ...
Views: 328 - Receptivity to the Universal Vital Forces - by Submitted on May 19, 2024 from santosh krinskyIn May 1973, a devotee from the West was visiting Auroville in South India. At that time, it was primarily an eroded, dusty plateau, not the lush forested scene that one can see today if one visits. May is an extremely hot month, and the visitor had just arrived a couple of weeks earlier from ...
Views: 293 - Recognising and Addressing the Law of Dualities and Action-Reaction in the Physical, Vital and Mental Levels of Our Existence - by Submitted on Feb 27, 2024 from santosh krinskyIn the material world, the laws of physics state that ‘for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”. Is it possible to extend the working of the law of the physical world into the vital, or even the mental, realm? We recognise the dualities, both on the physical level and in our ...
Views: 354 - Recognising the Emergence of the Soul in Our Being - by Submitted on Apr 07, 2024 from santosh krinskyThere are many things in the world which we know exist, not because we can directly perceive them, but because we can experience their effects. Thus, we cannot see ‘gravity’ but we know it exists. We cannot see radiation, but again, we know it exists. As we continue to develop powers of the ...
Views: 305 - Recognizing and Understanding Spiritual Experiences - by Submitted on Apr 07, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen we live primarily on the external surface of our being, anchored to the physical world, the vital energy and mental status of living in the world, we try to judge everything that occurs within us by the standards of what we expect and understand from our outward existence, experience and ...
Views: 389 - Reconciling Difficulty of the Change of Human Nature With the Time and Patience Needed for the Change - by Submitted on Jan 15, 2026 from santosh krinskyThe objective is almost unimaginably complex and difficult. Changing human nature, including the inheritance humanity brings from the animal evolutionary process, is not something that is quickly or easily accomplished. It cannot also be done entirely by the action of human mind and will power. ...
Views: 18 - Reconciling Fate and Free Will - by Submitted on Feb 21, 2024 from santosh krinskyWe treat free will and determinism as opposite and irreconcilable concepts, and there are adherents ready to argue one position or the other and provide irrefutable proofs of their position. It is clear from the strength of each position that there is a truth that underpins each of these ...
Views: 302 - Reconciling the Opposites - by Submitted on Mar 30, 2023 from santosh krinskyIf we recognize that the two extremes, matter and spirit, despite their apparent and irreconcilable opposition, both speak to some deep seated truth within the human sense, then we can begin to accept the idea that this is not a matter of one being “true” and the other being “false”, but rather, ...
Views: 522 - Recuperating Energy Through Contact with Nature - by Submitted on May 22, 2022 from santosh krinskyMuch of modern-day life is centered around urban living. Most urban dwellers have little, if any, exposure to Nature on a consistent basis. They also tend to feel stressed, drained and exhausted by the lives they lead. When they head out to a natural area, they frequently feel a release of ...
Views: 508 - Regimented and Mechanised Social Life Does Not Solve the Evolutionary Crisis - by Submitted on May 18, 2024 from santosh krinskySome societies have attempted to solve the the complex problems humanity is facing through massive attempts to educate and regiment the life of the individuals making up that society. These attempts rely on the idea that by controlling the education the society can create more or less “cogs in a ...
Views: 268 - Rejection of the Sex Impulse and Mastery of Its Force - by Submitted on Jan 11, 2022 from santosh krinskyMany religious traditions and cultures have placed sex in a ‘taboo’ category for discussion or consideration. Sex is considered by many to be something sinful, immoral and only to be conducted within the confines of a lawfully sanctioned marriage and under guidelines for procreation not ...
Views: 479 - Relationship Among Sadhaks in an Ashram Community - by Submitted on Feb 03, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe history of spiritual and religious communities has witnessed numerous approaches to interpersonal relationships. For the most part, monasteries, cloisters or ashrams have tried to focus the attention of their members by maintaining strict rules, in many cases including vows of silence, ...
Views: 562 - Relaxation: Dissipation or True Rest? - by Submitted on May 11, 2022 from santosh krinskyIf we examine our attitude towards relaxation, we find, generally, that people look at relaxation as a type of reward for efforts made. They work hard all day, or all week, or they finish a major project they are focused on, and then it is time to “relax”. In the West, there is an institution ...
Views: 534 - Reliance on the Divine Power Rather Than on the Individual Mind and Will - by Submitted on Oct 26, 2025 from santosh krinskyA strong mental consciousness and will may aid the individual in determining a way forward, but they are not the powers that can eventually succeed in the yogic process. If we view the yoga of Nature, we find that as a new power emerges, it brings with it unique, new ways of dealing with the ...
Views: 62 - Relieving Pain Through the Power of Immobility - by Submitted on Dec 01, 2024 from santosh krinskyWhen we are injured or affected by a disease condition that can cause pain, we find that the nerves attached to the injured area capture a vibration and transmit it to the brain as a signal we associate with pain. This signal is intended to spur us to some form of action to relieve the causative ...
Views: 244 - Religion Does Not Solve the Evolutionary Crisis - by Submitted on May 18, 2024 from santosh krinskyThroughout human history, mankind has turned to religion in an attempt to address or solve the problems of human life. In many cases, charismatic leaders have arisen who, through their teaching and their personal example, have inspired people to make changes in their individual lives, and there ...
Views: 268 - Religion, Fanaticism and Divine Truth - by Submitted on Mar 13, 2022 from santosh krinskyAdherents of virtually all religious traditions want to believe that their own religion is the one “true” religion, and all others are false, mistaken or imperfect. This belief reinforces their own faith and thus, enhances the satisfaction of the vital ego. In some cases, however, this belief ...
Views: 625 - Religious, Mechanical and Psychological Methods of Inner Development - by Submitted on Feb 13, 2023 from santosh krinskyWhen an individual awakens to the inner need for significance and meaning in life, he generally takes up one or more methods to try to understand the purpose of his life. Religious worship and belief systems tend to be quite external in their nature, trying to find a relationship between the ...
Views: 427 - Remaining Calm in the Face of Difficulties and Opposition - by Submitted on Oct 06, 2025 from santosh krinskyFacing the difficulties and obstacles presented by the external world to our ego-personality, we frequently become disturbed and react with anger, frustration or some other indication of a lack of peace. We tend to “become” the reaction. Someone cuts in front of us on the road and we become ...
Views: 81 - Remembering One’s Dreams Upon Waking - by Submitted on May 18, 2022 from santosh krinskyWestern psychology has been fixated on dreams and dream interpretation since the dream interpretation work of Sigmund Freud. C. G. Jung took the review of dreams deeper by exploring what he called the ‘collective unconscious’ and the archetypes and symbols that arise widely in dreams. Dreams ...
Views: 724 - Resisting and Overcoming the Negative Universal Forces That Try to Control Our Reactions - by Submitted on May 22, 2025 from santosh krinskyAll consciousness, all energy, all material substance is essential one, although it takes different forms in the external surface consciousness. Vibrational patterns move across the universal creation and forms respond to them if they are able to vibrate within the range of the vibrations. Human ...
Views: 104 - Responding to the Consciousness in Material Objects - by Submitted on Jun 09, 2021 from santosh krinskyIn The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo describes several standpoints that highlight the relationship between human beings and the material world. The “refusal of the ascetic” simply rejects the material world and does not put any focus or interest in it. The “materialist denial” accepts the physical ...
Views: 551 - Resting the Body with the Right Consciousness - by Submitted on Jul 29, 2022 from santosh krinskyThe machinery of the physical body has its own basic requirements for rest in order to function optimally. When one goes beyond the body’s capacity for effort at any point in time, and thereby becomes fatigued, a state of tamas tends to arise. This is inimical to maintaining the continuity of ...
Views: 527 - Restraining the Response to the Impulses Attractive to the Vital Nature Is the First Step Towards Mastery - by Submitted on May 18, 2025 from santosh krinskyA lesson in control of impulses was described by Homer in The Odyssey. The protagonist, Odysseus is on his ship trying to return home after the Trojan War. He approaches an area that was home to the Sirens, whose alluring voices would lure sailors to their death as the ships crashed among the ...
Views: 126 - Results of Spiritual Development in the Consciousness - by Submitted on Jul 23, 2021 from santosh krinskyJust as we cannot see electricity, but we can observe its results, or we cannot see the mental process objectively (although one can indeed observe thoughts processing internally), but we can see its impact in the world, so with the spiritual development, which is more subtle than the mental ...
Views: 553 - Reviewing the Operation of the Law of Karma - by Submitted on Mar 03, 2024 from santosh krinskyWhether one calls it the ‘law of Karma”, ‘dependent origination, or ’cause and effect’, the operation of karma essentially states that each action will create an effect which thereby creates a line of development that impacts the individuals who participate in the situation as it develops. While ...
Views: 312 - Risks and Difficulties Attendant on the Practice of a Yoga of Transformation - by Submitted on Mar 17, 2023 from santosh krinskyPeople tend to underestimate the risks and difficulties attendant on the practice of yoga, with a focus on the growth of consciousness and transformation of human nature. Once the seeker begins to try to make changes in long-standing habits of action and reaction, mental predilictions, vital ...
Views: 417 - Roadmap for Spiritual Growth and Transformation - by Submitted on Mar 18, 2021 from santosh krinskyA seeker treading the path of spiritual growth and enlightenment is confronted with a confusing mix of experiences and insights, as well as obstacles and setbacks of various kinds. A working knowledge of the various “moving parts” involved in the consciousness of the human being is valuable to ...
Views: 757 - Sachchidananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss) - by Submitted on Jun 19, 2023 from santosh krinskyIn our mental view of the world, we see everything separated and fragmented, and we identify separate objects, beings and forces as interacting with one another. We can intellectually conceive of the concept that all these separate entities and forces are part of a coordinated and combined ...
Views: 378 - Sadhak of Integral Yoga Rejects Fulfillment of Sexual Impulse to Focus Conscious Force on the Spiritual Realization - by Submitted on Jan 14, 2026 from santosh krinskyThere is a vast difference between the goals of the ordinary human individual and those who have chosen to take up spiritual sadhana. This difference defines the way they respectively look at things, including the various normal and natural functions of human life. For the ordinary individual, ...
Views: 19 - Sadhana in the Path of Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Oct 09, 2025 from santosh krinskyWith its focus on transformation of body, life and mind through the descent, development and expression of the next term in the evolution of consciousness, the integral yoga sets a different aim than other paths of yoga, which tend to focus on individual liberation, salvation or ...
Views: 68 - Sadhana Is the Core Focus — Mental and Emotional Practices Are Secondary - by Submitted on Mar 19, 2022 from santosh krinskySri Aurobindo makes a clear distinction between development of the mind and the heart through various intellectual or artistic pursuits, or through music or devotional activities, and the practice of Sadhana, which is the primary need and focus for the spiritual aspirant. While any of these ...
Views: 538 - Safely Transitioning Between the External Physical Consciousness and the Mental, Vital and Subtle Physical Realms of Inner Experience - by Submitted on Aug 10, 2021 from santosh krinskyWhenever an individual enters into a new situation or circumstance, there is a period of disorientation, which may involve misinterpretation of what is being experienced, as well as failure to understand the rules, laws or protocols that may apply in that new situation. In society this may lead ...
Views: 585 - Samadhi and the Integral Yoga - by Submitted on Jun 22, 2021 from santosh krinskyTraditional paths of yoga, and in particular the yoga practice organised and codified by Patanjali, hold Samadhi as an ultimate state of consciousness that puts the seeker into a state of superconscious reality that effectively links him to the Divine reality and purpose of existence. Swami ...
Views: 753 - Samadhi, the Yogic Trance, and the Waking Realisation - by Submitted on Jun 23, 2021 from santosh krinskyThe yogic trance, samadhi, is considered a goal for the spiritual seeker, providing access to the realisation of spiritual Oneness. In the integral yoga, however, dropping of the outer life and activity and entering into a trance state is not the end goal. The consciousness that is experienced ...
Views: 686 - Save the Oceans to Save the Planet, Part 2: Developing Solutions - by Submitted on Aug 08, 2020 from santosh krinskySave the Oceans to Save the Planet: Part 2 Developing Solutions In part 1 we provided an overview of the existential crisis facing the oceans, and by extension, the survival and the quality of life of humanity and other life on the planet due to the challenges to which the oceans are being ...
Views: 651 - Save the Oceans to Save the Planet, Part 3: A Framework for Implementation - by Submitted on Sep 07, 2024 from santosh krinskyAs we have seen in the first two parts of this series, an existential crisis is facing, not only humanity, but the entire world. We have explored a number of aspects of this crisis and begun to understand the various types of solutions that will be required to solve this crisis in a timely ...
Views: 314 - Save the Oceans to Save the Planet, Part 3: A Framework for Implementation - by Submitted on Aug 08, 2020 from santosh krinskySave the Oceans to Save the Planet, Part 3: A Framework for Implementation As we have seen in the first two parts of this series, an existential crisis is facing, not only humanity, but the entire world. We have explored a number of aspects of this crisis and begun to understand the various ...
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